::Correction Appended::
Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon sent a strong message Wednesday afternoon to students at the Downtown Campus: Immigration policy must change.
“Immigration policies that have failed need to be addressed and addressed now,” Gordon said in the First Amendment Forum at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Gordon’s speech, part of the Honors Lecture Series hosted by Barrett, the Honors College, was a message to students, professors and members of the media to pressure the federal government and bring change.
“Help us tell the story to our national leaders and help them — no, make them — see the light,” Gordon said. “It’s time for the federal government to take responsibility for the situation they’ve created.
“Let Congress and the White House see what their unconscionable neglect has caused,” he said.
Gordon said Congress must realize the time for debate is up and the people need action.
“No more studies. No more hearings. We’ve had enough,” he said. “No more task forces. We’re going to go to the Congress. We’re going to go to the new president the day after the inaugural and we’re going to start knocking on doors.”
Gordon said the financial, social and constitutional costs of a failed immigration policy are too much for the City of Phoenix to bear. Nobody ever anticipated immigration reform would be an issue of local government, he said, “but because of the federal neglect, that’s where we find ourselves today.”
At a time when the Phoenix budget is being cut, the city spends about $10 million each year to hire more police officers to deal with immigration-related crimes, he said.
Gordon said Phoenix also pays about $2 million a year to house illegal immigrants who committed crimes.
“It’s real money that could be used for social services,” he said.
Gordon also attacked Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, saying he has violated constitutional rights.
He said the sheriff has filled a political void created by the federal government between local and federal law enforcement.
“He has exploited it to suit his own needs,” Gordon said.
He said Arpaio runs immigration enforcement operations based on racial profiling, not through legal means. He said the federal government is responsible because it continually ignores these constitutional violations.
“The Civil Rights Division in the U.S. Department of Justice, through its silence, continues to thumb its nose at both civil rights and justice,” he said.
Gordon said, the American people need to tell their representatives in Congress “the research has been done and the papers have been written.”
“Fix the damn problem, and fix it now,” he said.
Anthropology freshman Brittani Mann said as a longtime resident of the Valley, she has seen the tensions between different levels of government.
“There is a problem and it needs to be addressed,” Mann said. “I agree that we need to stand up.”
Global studies freshman Samantha Novak said she appreciated Gordon’s speech to students.
“The youth gets to be change agents,” she said. “Ultimately our role is to call attention to the things we think are important.”
Novak, an Alaska resident, said Gordon’s speech gave her new insight into Arizona’s immigration problems.
“It’s just a more present issue,” she said. “We have problems there too, but it’s not nearly as bad.”
Mark Jacobs, dean of the honors college, said he did not expect Gordon to deliver a major policy speech to students.
“It’s an honor,” Jacobs said. “He used this chance to really make a statement here.”
A quote in the second paragraph was incorrectly reported. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said, "Immigration policies that have failed need to be addressed and addressed now."
Reach the reporter at adam.sneed@asu.edu.
